Smith goes for a tumble at Kansas but walks away unscathed

Zane Smith walked away from a “wild ride” late in Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway after his car rolled over twice in Turn 4.

Smith was running the high lane in Turns 3 and 4 on the first overtime attempt when he was hit in the left rear by John Hunter Nemehcek and squeezed against the wall. The force of the contact pushed Smith’s Ford onto its driver’s side and rode the wall through the corner before coming down on its roof. The car rolled over again as it moved down the banking before coming to rest on its wheels.

“It was a wild ride, no doubt,” Smith said. “Yeah, [it happened] before I knew it. I had a decent restart going and then I just get wrecked by the [No.] 42. He just drives through me. Then I was sliding on the wall and was just mad at that point from how our day was going, and then this just [expletive] me off even more because what really hurt was flipping down the track. Yeah, it was violent, no doubt, but man, just a fast Speedy Cash Ford today.

“Just a bummer. Right before that caution came out, we were going to have a top 10 day [after] racing up inside the top 10 a majority of the day, and it’s a shame that it has to come to an end that way. Shoutout to everyone back at FRM for bringing another really good car, especially on a mile-and-a-half. Five more, and hopefully we can bring some more good ones.”

Smith and Nemechek were battling around the top 15 when the incident occurred.

Nemechek took to social media to explain the contact. He posted on his X account, “My bad. Made a mistake trying to make a move to go 3-wide into Turn 3. Apologies to the No. 38 guys and Zane. Hate the way it ended. A decent day but nothing to show for it.”